Happy Birthday Lenora!!!

The other HUGE highlight in January was celebrating Lenora's 11th birthday!!! This sweet girl is such a JOY.

Because her birthday fell on a Sunday, we started celebrations the day before with her requested Einstein Bagels.

And she went on her annual birthday date with Gram and Grandpa to the ballet and Joe Veras. She loves this tradition and so do they! 

Her actual birthday started off with presents and birthday pancakes. 

After church she set to work making her own cake. She could not decide on a theme for the cake (even after at least 20 minutes in the cake decoration aisle) so she went with a simple, beautiful design. It turned out perfectly. 

A few weeks after her birthday, Michael and I got to spend an awesome evening with Lenora. We headed to Deseret Book so she could pick out scriptures. We usually wait until our kids' 12th birthday to purchase them a nice set of scriptures. But Lenora really wanted hers early. She misses the cut off for moving up to Young Women's by just12 days, so she insisted she was ready. We had to agree! She picked out the pink scriptures, and they're beautiful! 

Now all the wonderful things Lenora is up to these days and what we adore about her... 

Lenora is still the puzzle queen. She got a "Magic Puzzle" for her birthday and had so much fun putting it together. She wouldn't allow anyone to help her (this picture isn't he magic puzzle. Somehow I missed a picture of her working on it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she finished the 1000 piece puzzle in just two days).

Puzzles aren't the only thing Lenora is good at building. She has a knack for how things work and fit together. Recently, she wanted to change the innertube on her bike. I couldn't come help at the moment, but I talked her through it verbally (thinking there was no way she's get it on her own). Not only did she figure it out, she had moved on to Conrad's bike by the time I came outside. 

Here's another of her engineering projects...

Lenora is SO MUCH FUN! I sometimes take things too seriously, but she's always there to lighten the mood. Just the other morning, I asked if she could help cook pancakes. She took it upon herself to make the morning more fun by making shape pancakes. But not just any shapes... she and the boys made snakes and bunnies and mice along with BB guns to shoot them with. The boys were in heaven!

A buffalo for Daddy 

Lenora is such a nurturer. She is always willing to help with Walter and any other kids that are around. She's patient and kind and gentle (and fun of course). Walter just adores Lenora and it's no wonder.

Helping Walter clean Lamby after he spilled pancake batter on him

Because Lenora loves to keep life fun and focus on meaningful connections and relationships, she doesn't put much store by chores and organization. Her coat and shoes are usually in the middle of the floor, she's first to volunteer to help with Walter and get out of kitchen jobs, and her hair is often unbrushed and wild. It drives Eliza nuts since they share a room. I'm sure she'll grow to care more as she gets older. For now, just be careful not to trip over her shoes and die.

Lenora loves food and is a great chef! She obviously didn't cook this meal, but she also loves to eat the cooking of others - especially meat! 

Lenora has taken it upon herself to join the Vanguard sewing class with the teens this year. She's doing so well too! She made the cutest baby blanket for Lionel! Now's she's working on a skirt. 

Lenora, thanks for being so much fun! Thanks for reminding us all to slow down, have fun, and savor the people and experiences all around us. We love you! We love your light, your hard work, and the love you share with others. Happy Birthday sweet girl. 

January in Pictures

We wore the kids out on our trip to California,  but once we were home it was time for everyone to get back to school/ work.  Here's some of what we were up to in January....

Walter has entered the tantrum phase and become a true toddler. 

We've enjoyed some great birds watching, both with Vanguard and on our own. We've spotted this bald eagle and her mate multiple times! 

The amazing women at Vanguard threw me a surprise baby shower for Lionel. It was so sweet! And I loved that they included all the kids and teens. In a world where very few people are excited about your 7th baby, it was so wonderful to feel like he was loved and celebrated! 

They had game for all the kids to play including a drinking from a bottle competition for my kids. Conrad won!

One day we headed up to Nordic Valley for a ski day with friends. All the kids did a great job. 

Walter and I manned the picnic table and kept kids happy with snacks.  

Walter figured out how to poop in the potty and was so proud of himself! He wants to potty train so badly, but we'll wait until after baby is here. 

He also had a great time helping cook in his new apron from Gram.

Aren't these boys so cute!?!

Hazel and Eliza did one of the crazier things of their lives when they joined the other teens from Vanguard for a cold plunge in 20 degree weather.  I'm not sure Eliza will make that mistake again!

They've also had many great visits to the temple. I love that they have such a great peer group to lead them in crazy (but clean) fun as well as spiritual growth. It's all about balance right?!?

Not pictured was all the cleaning and final prep for our sweet baby! We can't wait to meet him (and I'm SO over being pregnant). 

Christmas Experiences

For Christmas this year, the kids mainly got experience gifts. We gave the girls tickets to go see Ragtime at the new Hale Center Theater in Orem. It was AMAZING! I've always loved the music from Ragtime, so I loved sharing this show with the girls. 

Hazel gave me a hard time at intermission saying, "You don't like Les Miserables because you say it's too sad, but you like this show?!?" It is admittedly not the most cheery plot, but it's so good! On the way home we talked about the power we have to be changes for good or ill in our world, and how so much depends on our reaction, not the things that happen to us. Such a great evening with these beautiful girls! 

The whole family got an experience from Santa to visit the Crater up in Heber. We enjoyed lunch at a fun train- themed dinner...

... then headed to the Crater. It's a natural hot spring inside this awesome cave. Because it's heated by carbon dioxide gas instead of sulfer, it doesn't smell yucky. In fact,  it felt amazing to swim in! 

It was especially nice to get away as a family before we add a baby to the mix again. Highlights of the day included: lots of laughs and smiles,  seeing the kids awe walking in to the cave,  Walter loving the water,  Conrad and Orson drawing maps of the cave at home,  and Lenora declaring it the best gift ever.